FORT RUCKER, Ala. (September 29, 2011) -- Officials from Enterprise City Schools, Daleville City Schools and Fort Rucker announced to the public Sept. 22 that the Department of Defense awarded the school systems sizeable grants.

According to Aaron Milner, Enterprise City Schools superintendent, the school system applied for a grant through the DOD Education Activity program and was awarded $2.5 million over the next three years.

Milner added that the money would be spent to help make improvements to all schools within the system, including the purchase of new technology such as iPads, laptops, desktop computers, Liquid Crystal Display projectors and more.

"This will help better prepare our students for the world after they graduate," he said. "Today is a great day for the children of Enterprise City Schools."

Milner added that around 39 percent of students attending Enterprise City Schools are connected to Fort Rucker. The grant is also meant to help those making the transition from an outside school to an ECS school by providing funding for a new counseling position to specifically help those in transition.

"Fort Rucker is one of the things that is vital to our success as a school system," he said. "We've taken a great amount of pride in making sure that military students experience no disparity in their educational opportunities. We want them to receive a comparable or better educational opportunity inside our classrooms."

Kimberly Crutchfield, wife of Maj. Gen. Anthony G. Crutchfield, U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker commanding general, was also in attendance for the announcement.

As a former educator, she said the awarding of the grant was a great moment for both the city of Enterprise and Fort Rucker.

"We're so grateful that the local school districts understand the importance of the needs of our military children and that they took the time to apply for these grants," she said. "I know from experience the application process takes an enormous amount of manpower and effort. The great thing about these grants is they will help not only military children, but all the children of their districts. The Wiregrass consistently shows Fort Rucker Soldiers and Families how much they care, and now the Department of Defense knows that, too."

Kimberly Kozel, Fort Rucker school liaison officer, said the grant had been in the works before she started here in June, but she was happy to be here to see the final results.

"Once I contacted (Miner) I knew everything was going smoothly," she said. "He had a great team working on the project and everything came together very well."

Kozel added that this grant represents a great opportunity for Fort Rucker and all other children attending Enterprise City Schools.

"This is an awesome opportunity," she said. "They've already shown us some of the technological advancements that will be made in the near future and I think it's only going to get better from here."

Daleville City Schools was also awarded a grant from DODEA in the form of $468,749 over the next three years, according to Andrew Kelley, Daleville City Schools superintendant.